


A Happy Family is but an Earlier Heaven

by SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole



Series: Something To Talk About universe [3]
Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ballet Dancer Tessa Virtue, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Hockey Player Scott Moir, One Shot, throwback week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 16:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19066087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole/pseuds/SpiraledIntoThisRabbithole
Summary: Another little sneak peek into the happy future of Tessa and Scott.A one-shot from the Something to Talk About universe where Scott plays hockey for the Maple Leafs and Tessa is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.





	A Happy Family is but an Earlier Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> A challenge was thrown up about throwback fics, and I only have two fics to throwback to, so here’s another one-shot from the Something to Talk About universe. 
> 
> I think I’m a bit late but not by too much… =P

 

Watching Tessa dance makes Scott feel like he’s been swept into a fantasy wonderland. She always takes his breath away. With her strength, with her beauty, and with her grace. 

And even when she’s just practising, like today, without all the marvellous costumes, makeup and set design supporting her, every step she takes and every line she makes is utterly gorgeous. He barely notices any of the other dancers practising alongside her.

Scott feels like a young swain, watching his crush through the window. In fact, he’s pretty certain if he went back twenty years, young Scott Moir has stood outside quite a few ballet studios, peeking through the window whilst waiting for Tessa Virtue to finish class.

He’s not alone this time though. 

Baby Emma Moir has caught sight of her beloved Mama through the glass, and is trying to wriggle out of his arms to get a closer look. 

“Woah baby!” Scott tightens his grip on his daughter and moves closer to the glass, hoping to pacify her excitement. Emma just presses her face up against the glass pane and beats it with her little fingers, calling out for her mother. Who unfortunately cannot hear her through the thick studio walls. In fact, Scott can barely make out what music they are dancing to in the room. 

“Yes, that is Mama!” Scott whispers into Emma’s ear. “Isn’t she pretty?”

Emma gazes up at him in adoration, grabs her tiny fist and smashes it up into her mouth. She slobbers over it as she gives him a big toothless grin. And then proceeds to turn back to the dance studio, and beat those now saliva covered fingers on the pane. 

“Ooh ok baby girl… let me clean you up a bit.” Scott quickly grabs the handkerchief he had stuffed into his back jeans pocket, and does his best to wipe off all the drool. By the time he does so and looks back up into the dance studio, he realises that everyone, including Tessa and Marie-France Dubreuil who’s leading the group, have stopped dancing and is staring back at him. 

All of them have various degrees of smiles on their faces. And quite a few of them wave back when a delighted Emma starts waving at her Mama and the crowd looking at her.

Marie-France beckons them into the studio, and with a faint blush, Scott enters the room with Emma. 

“Sorry Marie-France! I thought Emma might want to see her mother at work. I really had no intention of disturbing your practice.” He makes his way over to Tessa for a quick peck on the lips. But before he can hand Emma over to Tessa, who’s bent down to greet Emma with a little Eskimo kiss, Marie-France waggles her finger at him.

“Mais non! Where is the distraction? Also I’m leading this practice so I can say we’re done for the day, and demand that you hand over that beautiful girl to me now!”

With a laugh, Scott passes Emma to Marie-France instead, and he and Tessa have to step back to make way for the rest of the dancers who are starting to crowd around the choreographer. All of them cooing at the adorable baby who’s happily snuggling up to one of her favourite aunts.

“A tutu? Really?” Tessa raises an eyebrow at him as her cherry lips twist into an amused smirk. 

Scott shrugs. “We were coming to visit her mother at the National Ballet of Canada. I thought she should be dressed up just like her Mama.”

“Well clearly it’s a hit with this crowd...”

“Omg you guys!” Katelyn Osmond squeals as she breaks from the larger group and bounces up to them. “That is the cutest baby in the cutest outfit ever!” She pauses for a moment to frown and rub her rib cage. “I think I just got elbowed by Gui in the race to say hello, so I guess he agrees as well.”

The three of them turn towards Marie-France and Emma, and there is Guillaume blowing a raspberry, trying to make Emma laugh. Right next to him is Patrick who’s attempting to give Emma a high five.

“I also want to add that the two of you make possibly the most beautiful babies I’ve ever seen. I mean, the two of you are clearly genetically superior specimens. I knew that ages ago... But your babies! Jeez!”

Both Tessa and Scott visibly preen in pleasure. Compliment one of them about their looks or talent, and they’ll blush like shy little schoolchildren. But praise their children? And they’ll happily soak it all in like the ridiculously besotted parents that they are.

“Where’s William by the way? He didn’t want to visit us with his sister?” Katelyn mock pouts with her hands on her hips. “There would have been less of a stampede if you brought both children to visit instead of just the baby who Marie-France will never let out of her arms.” 

Again they turn, and watch Kaitlyn get brutally rebuffed by Marie-France in her bid to ask to hold Emma. 

“Not at all,” Scott chuckles as Jeff now jumps into the tension brewing between Marie-France and Kaitlyn. Clearly advocating for every dancer to get a chance with Baby Emma. 

It doesn’t seem to be working. 

At all.

“He’s at school and I’m due to pick him up in another two hours.”

“School?! But he’s barely-”

“It’s preschool. Before they go into kindergarten.” Tessa answers. “It’s pretty much a day-care where they sing songs, nap a lot, and maybe start learning their alphabet and numbers. But most importantly, it teaches him how to socialise and make friends with other children his age.”

“He comes back with a new best friend every day. Trust me, I ask and the names are always different.” Scott adds with a grin.

Tessa lets out that wonderful tinkling laughter of hers. “It’s almost always girl names too. I wonder where he gets that from?”

“Hey!” Scott squawks indignantly. “I’ve only had one best friend for over twenty years and that’s you!”

“I’m just saying he clearly inherited the friendly extroverted gene from you. And that he seems to subconsciously be looking for a female best friend,” Tessa replies with a teasing gleam in her eye. “No need to be defensive, my dear!” She reaches up to run her fingers through the back of his scalp, soothing his ruffled feathers.

Katelyn can literally observe Scott’s hazel eyes soften as he gazes down at Tessa. For the hundredth time, she wonders what it would be like to have that kind of love and connection Tessa and Scott have with one another. It always seems so enviably wonderful. But there’s a part of Katelyn who can’t imagine giving and opening herself that much to anyone else…

The raised voices from across the room capture their attention again. Where they find Emma extremely entertained by the chaos she’s caused, and not realising how her smiles and gurgles are only fueling the war brewing between those who want to spend quality time with her.

“Well, the ability to make people fall in love with her at first sight definitely comes from you!” Scott jokes. “I vote this is a good time for an intervention.”

But neither of them moves.

Tessa arches an eyebrow at her husband. “Well?”

“These are your friends and colleagues,” Scott shrugs. He sneaks another glance at Marie-France who’s holding on to Emma tightly, and he shakes his head firmly. “I’m just a hockey guy, and our idea of resolving conflict at work is to get into a scuffle or actual fight. I don’t think you want me to use that on-ice tactic here?”

He grins boyishly at Tessa, who just sighs and rolls her eyes affectionately at him. The one aspect she’d always been a little worried about when Scott started pursuing his hockey career, was the whole physical aspect of the sport. She has plenty of memories of Scott and her older brother Kevin (who played collegiate hockey), coming home from matches covered in bruises and nicks, just from all the rough and physical play.

Although the overall number of fights have gone down in the NHL in past years, it was still regarded as a natural and normal part of the gameplay by many. And Scott had gotten involved in his fair share of fights and scuffles over the last twenty years. In fact, that first year he was drafted into the NHL, he made sure to win most of the few fights he got embroiled in. He’d explained to Tessa it was important to stand up for his teammates, and to show his opponents that he wasn’t a target to be bullied during a match. 

She remembered rolling her eyes about this neatherdral behaviour back then too, but now she’s just thankful he can defend himself out there on the ice.

So it’s funny how Scott can handle himself against all those mean tough guy enforcers in the league, and yet is trying to avoid intervening in this situation with a pint-size Marie-France and a bunch of dancers. 

Just as she takes a tentative step towards the scrum of dancers across the room, Patrice Lauzon enters the room. The noise must have attracted him, and his eyebrows are raised so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. “What’s going on here?” 

Patch takes a moment to absorb the scene before him, and immediately understands the situation. 

With Billie-Rose now in her teenage years, his wife has desperately missed having young babies and children to dote on. And the two Moir children have become Marie-France’s not so secret favourites. 

She’s even confided to Patch a few weeks prior, her hope that Tessa will sign Emma up for ballet classes. Not now of course, but in another year or so when she’s more stable on her feet. 

She had early hopes about William becoming a dancer as well. But based on the way the young toddler runs about the house, bashing into furniture and wielding his little hockey stick (a Christmas gift from Danny), everyone’s pretty certain William is on the path to following his father into sports. 

Patch gives Tessa and Scott a quick nod, as he hurries towards his wife to diffuse the tensions and convince her to give up Emma. As the director of the National Ballet of Canada, he had plenty of skill and experience in calming down all the artistic, fiery temperaments always flying about the place.

He never thought he would have to coax his wife into giving up a child hostage though. Even if the parents were looking on, not panicked but perfectly bemused by the whole situation.

It takes awhile to do so, but once he’s gotten hold of Emma Moir, Patch admits he himself is reluctant to give her up. To relinquish her to Kaitlyn or Jeff. 

After all, she smells like springtime and really is the sweetest baby you could meet.

 

=====

 

William Moir is really, really,  _ really _ happy. He  _ loves _ visiting the arena. Especially when it’s  _ game _ night!

Sometimes when he visits the arena, his Daddy is only skating with his friends and there’s not many people around.

But when it’s a  _ game  _ day or night _ ,  _ that means it gets really loud and noisy, and there’s a lot of people all cheering for  _ his _ Daddy to win! They yell and scream all the time, and no one minds if William yells too. He gets into trouble if he shouts at home or outside. But during a  _ game,  _ no one minds if he screams as loud as he wants. Especially when everyone is screaming too!

Even Mommy will stand up and shout! And if any of his uncles sit with them, they sometimes shout bad words and have to say sorry to Mommy and whoever else in the family is sitting nearby. William’s Grandmas scold his uncles a lot because of all the bad words...

William also really likes it when he watches the big screen in the middle and they show his Daddy! Sometimes he’s talking to someone with a microphone, and other times he wears his helmet and you cannot see his face. But William always knows when it’s Daddy. Even when he’s skating by really fast wearing the same thing as all of his friends… and rushing for the puck together with the other people from the other team… 

The best is when Daddy scores a goal and everyone around them cheers very loudly and chants their name - Moir!  _ Moir! MOIR! _

And then Daddy always waves to the camera - to him and Emma and Mommy! 

If they sit near the glass in front, Daddy will skate to them and give them a kiss and a high-five through the glass. Yes, William likes that a lot. And so does Emma! Mommy says Emma is too little to understand the game yet. But Emma really like it when Daddy comes up to the glass and gives her a kiss. She will laugh very loudly and Mommy will laugh and be happy too!

Like him, Emma also loves it most when they win the game at the end. Because everyone is so,  _ so _ happy! 

Sometimes they don’t win, and everyone becomes sad. But Mummy says no one can win all the time, and William and everyone must learn how to take the highs with the lows. At first, William thought it was a game related to airplanes, but now he knows it means sometimes they must lose and even though they really want it and wish for it, they cannot always win.

But William likes it when everyone is smiling. So it’s good that they win a lot. He told his class on Tuesday that his Daddy is great because he just needs to score a goal and it can make everyone around so, so happy!

Tonight, the game ended happily and so William is waiting impatiently with his family for his Daddy to come out of the locker room. Uncle Eric and  Uncle Luca has already come by to say buh-bye and give him a fist bump. But Mommy says because Daddy is the Captain, he needs to stay back longer sometimes. 

The people with the microphones and cameras also like to talk very long to Daddy. He knows Daddy is very funny and can make the best faces and play the best games… but they just want to keep talking with him, and asking him lots of questions.

And William wishes they would stop. Because then Daddy can come out and they can all go home together and Daddy can finish reading him his bedtime story.

William’s bottom lip starts to jut out a little and the corners of his mouth droops. He leans over to rest his tired head on Mommy’s comfortable white-colored leg warmer. He uses his right hand to rub his eyes while clinging on to Mommy’s leg. He’s sleepy and wants to nap, like Emma who is already sleeping in her pram. But William’s a big boy now. And he can stand and wait for Daddy so that he can give him a big hug. And tell Daddy what a good job he did.

William wants to tell Daddy everything he saw during the game. And tell him how excited he was when Daddy scored his two goals. How when the You Make My Dreams Come True song gets played the two times, he and Mommy (carrying Emma) will dance in their seats as Daddy blows a kiss to them or points to them in the stands.

William also knows Daddy said he doesn’t really like the song very much, but that this year he wants to hear it as much as possible. Mommy had laughed and kissed Daddy in their kitchen when he said that. She said it’s one of her favourite songs, so Daddy should be working extra hard to get the arena to play it for her. And she said she, Emma and William will be there dancing when he does. They kissed again, and again, and it was icky… but William remembers how important it is that they dance when Daddy scores a goal.

He wants to check that Daddy saw them dancing in the stands tonight, even though William knows that the big screen in the rink showed the whole family doing so. When they come to watch a game, the big TV always shows them, but it’s often during the game so Daddy’s too busy at his job to see. Grandma Alma says that if William waves, maybe Daddy can see them more easily, but his job is important so he needs to focus on that. So William tries to wave if he ever realises that they are on the screen. He even grabs one of Emma’s hands and tries to help her wave to Daddy as well.

Now, standing here, swaying a little back and forth, he feels Mommy’s fingers stroking his head and running through his hair. And his eyes don’t want to stay open. He hugs Mommy’s leg even harder to try and keep standing but he cannot.

As William starts to nod off and his body slowly slides down to the floor, someone picks him up. It feels warm, strong and safe, and the smell of clean soap is so familiar to him… it’s Daddy! 

William wants to greet his Daddy with a big hug and a high-five, but instead he yawns and snuggles deeper into the crook of Daddy’s neck. He barely hears the murmured greetings between Mommy and Daddy... though he senses them kissing again and he wants to pull a face. But he’s too sleepy.

Instead, he drifts off, secure in the arms of his father and surrounded by the love of his family.

 

=====

 

It’s been a long week and Tessa Virtue will be the first to admit that she’s tired as she drags herself back home into the quiet house. She remembers the sleep deprivation that she and Scott soldiered through when it was only William. But now that there’s also Emma, it actually feels like more than twice the work and exhaustion. She’s reminded how her amazing mother actually raised four children. And was smart enough to arrange for a four year gap between each.

Tessa’s only a month or so into ballet season, and of course Scott is in the thick of hockey season as well, so their days in the family household can get rather busy and complicated. Especially when Scott has to travel for away games. 

Thankfully, they have loads of help. And Tessa rather suspects her mother and Alma had sat down together and studied this year’s NHL season schedule when it was first posted, mutually deciding when it would be a good time for each of them to travel to Toronto for an extended visit. Even Jordan has been popping by the house more often, offering to babysit an hour here and there just so Tessa and Scott can catch up on sleep.

Nevertheless, Tessa adores every minute of her hectic life. Even if there are some moments when she wants to plead with Emma to please go back to sleep, and other moments when she wishes William didn’t inherit his stubborn and loud streak from her and Scott respectively. Getting William to eat his vegetables is a battle every meal, and Tessa has found herself spending way too much of her limited free time either googling or asking every mother she meets how to sneakily disguise vegetables to adequately meet her son’s dietary needs. Scott is of the view that they should just continue pureeing everything but William is smart enough to realise that the green gravy or sauce he keeps finding on or in his food is rather suspicious. (Tessa totally blames Scott for this by the way. Kate has verified that Tessa loved vegetables as a child and happily devoured corn and broccoli at every meal. Alma however shared that Scott used to have particularly virulent fits against veggies in the past.)

Tessa walks past the living room, and is happy to see there are only a few disorganised pillows on the sofa. She takes a little detour to tidy them up into their proper place. She pops her head into the kitchen, to find the sink empty and the island counter almost sparkling clean, except for a tablecloth abandoned in the middle. She smiles as she puts it away. A messy kitchen is always the clearest indication that it’s been a tough day, and there wasn’t enough time to clean up after dinner. 

It seems as if today was a good day for Scott who finally arrived home this morning, back from his recent slew of away games, and was raring to catch up on his quality time with the children. 

The last week or so, she could see the strain and longing in his face every time they Facetimed him and he spoke with the kids. Just two nights ago, she could see Scott’s eyes were a little red-rimmed and teary as she showed him Emma clutching a rather ragged Carlton the Bear and sleeping peacefully in her crib (it’s hard for Scott to make it for Emma’s bedtime whenever he’s traveling on the road). 

Also there were identical pouts on both Scott and William’s faces as they said goodnight to one another. They clearly didn’t want the call to end and though Scott tried to be the mature parent, it was so apparent to Tessa that her two Moir boys were getting more and more sullen at the thought of ending their rambling chat about dinosaurs. 

She quietly opens William’s bedroom door, and smiles broadly at the sight of a tuft of dark hair peeking out from under the blankets. William is such an active and outgoing little boy that it usually is quite easy for him to fall asleep, after a whole day of running around and talking to everyone he meets. 

Emma on the other hand, seems to have inherited her mother’s insomniac streak, and so with slight trepidation, Tessa slowly opens the door to the nursery. 

She glances over to the crib, and has to stifle the big bark of laughter threatening to explode out of her throat. 

Her dear husband has climbed into Emma’s crib and is currently curled up awkwardly with their baby girl sprawled fast asleep on his chest! 

“Help T!” Scott whispers urgently. “I’ve been trapped here for almost two hours and she won’t let me leave the crib!” He tries to shift minutely out from under the baby and Emma only raises one chubby leg up higher onto his chest, and clings to him even tighter. 

Tessa finds her entire body is shaking with suppressed laughter as she approaches her husband and daughter. She looks down into those gorgeous, but desperate eyes of Scott, and has to snicker at the predicament her adorably dedicated husband has found himself in. Only Scott would let himself be ensnared by his baby girl this way!

As Tessa bends down to lift Emma away, the baby starts to whimper and then cry louder. Then she notices that Emma has one chubby hand fisted in Scott’s t-shirt. So while Tessa softly sings Emma’s favourite lullaby to soothe her back to sleep, Scott swiftly pulls off the shirt that Emma is still absolutely refusing to let go off, and he scrambles nimbly out of the crib. 

“Like mother, like daughter eh?” Scott cheekily grins as Tessa continues to rock Emma while using the t-shirt to swaddle her into a secure cocoon. “Always trying to get my shirt off?” 

She smirks and meets his greeting kiss halfway, while they cradle Emma between them. “Emma is just doing her Mama a big favour. Helping get her Daddy all ready for bedtime later…”

Scott’s gaze darkens, and her palm lingers on his bare chest as they finally get Emma settled down for the night. As they wait a few moments to ensure Emma won’t protest being alone now and has fallen back into deep sleep, Tessa feels her tiredness from earlier in the day dissipating away. Her children are not the only ones who have missed Scott these past weeks.  

“I was getting a bath ready for you when Emma decided to wail out that she didn’t want to sleep any longer.” Scott murmurs into her neck, as he presses heated kisses to all the bare skin he can find. Making Tessa wish she hadn’t bothered to don a pullover over her tank top before she left the theatre. 

“We might need to top up the hot water,” Scott’s husky voice continues, “But I’m wondering if I can join you for a soak?”  

Tessa just winks at Scott, grabs his hand in hers and drags him towards the direction of their master bathroom.

 

 

*****

 

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t decide if baby Virtuemoir in Lucky Guy was a girl or boy, and so you get to leapfrog ahead into the Something to Talk About universe, to find two children. For those who are interested (and I’m not an expert on how kids are supposed to behave at various stages), my headcanon has William at about 3, and Emma at about 1. 
> 
> Also, that image about Scott kissing his daughter? A reader (HJI238) who commented on my previous story Lucky Guy, mentioned a goalie who liked to kiss the glass in front of his daughter and of course, Scott would be that kind of dad on the rink! There’s also an Ontarian father who made the news a few years back because he too got stuck in a crib with his daughter, and I just borrowed that image for Scott here too!


End file.
